From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
she told me she was hollow, that's far from what i see
she's more than just the daughter of a broken man to me
One dance certainly wouldn’t be enough, he finds. And so he scans the crowd, making a mental note of dragging Hotaru out onto the dance floor once she’s a bit less occupied. But for the meantime? There’s someone else that seems rather alone, with friends flitting here and there, but none that have taken her onto the dance floor yet, and so he makes a beeline toward her – flower crown halfway crooked along his skull as he regards Melita.
He nods his head to her in greeting, smiling softly and lightly. “Heuningby, gee u om vir dans?” He rumbles, wondering how much of the language she’d learned, if she’d understand that he’s asking her for a dance. Even if she doesn’t, the outstretched hand to her, head tilting over his shoulder to look back at the dance floor and music that’s starting to slow in preparation for yet another song, might be indication enough.
Heuningby, gee u om vir dans? - Honeybee, care for a dance?
she told me she was shallow. her rivers run so deep
if i could only be the boat that leads her to the sea
SuNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Her wild exuberance continued in its assault and siege, a parallel venture of untamed savagery and excitement, nestled and harpooned at once in the snap of her movements and the twirl of her motions. The youth presided along the perimeter of the dance area for the longest while, flower crowned on multiple levels, so much so that they appeared to be dangerously close to teetering off her head, wandering back and forth, perhaps looking a little lost, a little adrift, Fangorn at her heels. Last year she’d merely meandered out into the boundaries, stepped in time to the music, and found Remi, Isla, and Aoife, cherished those collected moments of liberation, freedom, and outright silliness. She didn’t see them as she scanned the crowd, nor anyone overtly familiar to spring and turn and with, so a portion of her wondered if she should merely pick Fangorn up and slide along with the vampire gourd, listen to his grumbles hisses and laugh into the ether again.
Except Sunjata appeared out of the void, and her cheeky grin found its place again. What she didn’t expect was for him to turn her way, extend a hand in a different, but becoming familiar, language. She rolled her eyes and snorted, a wrinkle to her nose in mischief. This was becoming far too generous. A sprig of laughter curled followed, a shake of her head, petals falling and threatening to descend. “You must be eager to have your toes stepped on,” Or worse – gods knew her siege prowess hadn’t transferred onto the dance floor. But she accepted too, placed her hand in his, laughed all the while, Fangorn following close behind.
she told me she was hollow, that's far from what i see
she's more than just the daughter of a broken man to me
He finds her, and likewise she finds him in a sense as she scans the crowd. Her cheeky grin is welcome, and as he rumbles to her in their language, a playful boyish smile crossing his face as she accepts and the crowns along her head threaten to fall – he reaches up to try and place them back in place before reaching for his own and tipping it back to her. “As if I won’t step on yours.” He jests back to her with a hum of laughter.
Regardless, he guides her onto the floor as the music shifts, ensuring his status as a makeshift uncle to this adopted child of Korofi is well known – no hidden smirks or flirtations like with Hotaru or any others. For her, she receives all the childish natures he has, all the boyish tendencies that he never fully got the chance to blossom into. He takes her hand in his, lifting it up a bit higher, letting her decide where she wishes to place her own hands. The song itself is rather slow at first, and he’s thankful for that to manage to gather their tempo’s, how they’ll move in an effort to not step on her or Fangorn.
“So, how are you enjoying Fiat Lux?” He asks, head cocking slightly, beginning to lead her into a sway of sorts to figure out where to start.
she told me she was shallow. her rivers run so deep
if i could only be the boat that leads her to the sea
SuNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
Inexperience for both then; likely suited for battles and rebellions than the quiet, precise movements of particular dance steps. She still laughed, regardless, truly indifferent to anything meant to be accurate here – for fun and revelry and silliness. Isn’t that what they all needed, after Long Night? After blights? After everything else damning and condemning? He reassembled her crowns, her eyes tilting up to watch the petals disappear out of her peripheral vision, a snort following suit. No high hopes for either of them. She shrugged, and then they maneuvered along the dance floor, bounding and skipping, light and airy, sprite-adorned and fey-accustomed, no need for her growls, her blistering vows, or her seditious splendor; time for amusements and diversions.
The girl placed her hands on his shoulders, seemingly far, far away with their height difference, but she also paid it no mind, swaying along in time to the music – hoping it gained some frenzied aspect, not one for slow, methodical, plodding motions. Her eyes wandered over to the musician’s pavilion, and then to the other dancers, before gaze swung back to him at his inquiry. “Good so far! I think I’ll play some games and grab food later. What about you?” She wasn’t certain what he’d been up to – especially since this was his first one.
she told me she was hollow, that's far from what i see
she's more than just the daughter of a broken man to me
They begin to figure out each other’s steps and he casually latches onto her hand easily, head shifting and earrings glinting slightly with the light as he looks from the rest of the dance floor back to Melita as his question is answered. “Ah, sounds like you’ve got quite the plans.” He rumbles with the briefest of chuckles. But when it’s turned back on him, he shrugs his shoulders lightly.
The musicians seem to realize people want something more upbeat, and the soft slow tempo of before picks up slowly at first while he figures out the best way to answer. “I think my plan is much the same.” He offers with a bright smile. “Tempted to go see what that spin the bottle game is all about.” He adds with an almost conspiratory look. “What games were you thinking?”
she told me she was shallow. her rivers run so deep
if i could only be the boat that leads her to the sea
SuNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
An obvious joke ensued and she snorted; the girl rarely planned anything out – impulsive, impetuous, resigned to conspire fire, brimstone, and anything else laden in between. If anything ever truly worked out it was due to some stalwart determination, annihilation, or twisted fortune; otherwise she was often staring into the abyss of her own failures. She shrugged at his chuckle though, a wrinkle to her nose, feet picking up the swifter tunes and stanzas, exactly what her soul had craved: fast, frenzied, unrelenting, ridiculous.
She listened to his plans though while they swept along, a hum resounding under her breath in her efforts to match the song set, an arch to her brow at his aforementioned game. “Hm. Never heard of it.” But then again, festivities had never been anything on the Rift, unless one enjoyed celebrating another day of life, and even then those were small victories, and she’d only been to one Helovian party before the end of that particular world – not a lot of experience in those means or modes.
But at his conspiring look, she answered with one of her own – a grin very Cheshire, ruffian, dangerous. “Capture The Flag.”
she told me she was hollow, that's far from what i see
she's more than just the daughter of a broken man to me
Ah, this was much easier to dance to, he finds as they move along the dancefloor with the vibrance and buoyancy of the music that filters and drifts from the musicians. At her comment of the game, his shoulders rise and fall a short amount in a shrug. He hadn’t either, though he’d find out the game was similar to ones from home, only a different name, different set of rules. “Has something to do with kissing.” He winks to her playfully. He doesn’t think it’s a game she’d like, nor does he particularly want her to be a part of it – but he could give her the basics at the very least. And since he didn’t have Lusea anymore, wasn’t committed to anything but himself now… Where was the harm?
His conspiring look is given back at him in the form of her own gilded eyes, devious and elusive as she comments on Capture the Flag, and he can’t help but to rumble a small laugh of surprise. “That seems very much like a game you’d enjoy.” He offers, his hand remaining in hers but one hand leaving her side to spin her playfully, bowing slightly at the waist in a way that almost makes him eye level with her. “I’m assuming the goal is to get the other teams’ flags?”
she told me she was shallow. her rivers run so deep
if i could only be the boat that leads her to the sea
SuNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
The pace was amusing, diverting, more so than any slow, plodding course, both brows lifting at the insinuation of spin the bottle’s rooted system – which sounded disappointing, honestly, when there were hundreds of other things to do. “Bound to be dramatic then,” the youth proffered with a snarky smile, an enveloping snicker, registering his flair towards the aforementioned, but having naught else to go on, no experience in those details or particulars. Ignorant at best, she shrugged again too, spinning along as he tossed her out along the surface, feet twisting and turning, bolder and bolder still within the revolution. Melita offered to do the same to him next, dangling her hands along like wings, unfurling rapidly, laughing, Fangorn orbiting around them in some circular motion, adding to the music with hisses and grumbles.
A game she’d enjoy indeed; as long as it involved destruction, mayhem, some other wreckage and havoc to exploit at its foundation. “Probably. But maybe I’ll get to maim some people in the process!” All in good fun: her corresponding grin was wicked again, a wrinkle to her nose, a plunge of all the potential damage she could orchestrate and endeavor; the hum never quite leaving her breath – as if all of it sounded incredibly pleasant to her.
she told me she was hollow, that's far from what i see
she's more than just the daughter of a broken man to me
The comment of dramatics causes him to snort, a brief, light, and airy chuckle leaving him. “Of course, it’s me.” He says, as if it’s the best explanation he has. But he’s doing it for the fun, perhaps the shit eating grin that starts to form is egged on at the prospect. But it doesn’t last long, not while his steel gaze lingers on her while they dance, while he mentions that it would be a game she’d enjoy. Any attempt to win finds consolation in that competitive part of him, wondering if she shares it too.
He spins her, and yet doesn’t at all expect for her to return the gesture. He obliges, however, just for her. And he snorts once more as they continue their dance, his breath picking up slightly while she comments on what the game is likely about. She comments she might be able to maim some people and his grin shifts to something feline at that. “I’ll have to come watch you tear them to shreds.”
she told me she was shallow. her rivers run so deep
if i could only be the boat that leads her to the sea
SuNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
At least he admitted it; and so she merely shook her head and rolled her eyes, the petals and flower crown tipping dangerously along the side of her hair before righting themselves again on some other frenetic movement. Some dramatics he could have easily avoided – but perhaps that wasn’t in the spirit of things, and she couldn’t exactly talk – tending to yield towards more of the striking endeavors when it suited her, when weapons, when havoc, or when shielding measures needed to be readily applied. Then the girl rampaged much the same as the music picked up once more, feet flying along the grounds, as they rapidly approached others, as she spun nearly into another (laughing, laughing, laughing; continually tempting fate).
And yes, there were competitive edges collected amongst her knife-boundaries and staff-fringes, the fire of damnation, success, and triumph an eternal sanction to her heart – and perhaps because she’d had so little. The Cheshire grin reignited, eager and fervent to unleash something in the spirit of fun and diversions. “Feel free!” Then she paused, a wrinkle to her nose then as they ambled and rambled past more. “I’m not coming to watch your Spin the Bottle showdown.” Not her thing; more tempted by notions of coliseums or onslaughts.
she told me she was hollow, that's far from what i see
she's more than just the daughter of a broken man to me
He gets this feeling that she likely wants him to find his way there, to offer his silent support from the sidelines, to see what she was capable of, and he gives her another rogue grin in response. “Well, now I can’t not can I?” He hums thoughtfully with a chuckle. Oh, but he could, if the mud monster was any indication. He doesn’t know this yet, and instead remains blissfully unaware, a small “oops” parting his lips as they nearly spin into another group.
But she comments she won’t come to spin the bottle; and his laugh is loud and bright, far from the smoky undertones it usually has. “I’d rather you weren’t there either.” He teases her, another hum of laughter leaving him. He doesn’t know where it would lead, and Melita had never expressed any sort of interest of anything in that regard. Best to keep her out of his usual habits in that regard.
she told me she was shallow. her rivers run so deep
if i could only be the boat that leads her to the sea
SuNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
He didn’t need to; no one else had really ever come to watch her assail or siege: the Fae orchestrating guardian events didn’t really count (because they cheered for whatever onslaught embedded their munitions and pain the most), and the Rift hadn’t been about observing, watching, and brandishing some applause. It’d warranted survival, anguish, and not much else; grit and determination notched and tethered to her bones. So she shrugged at his grin, maneuvering out of the way of another spinning couple, Fangorn hissing and grumbling around her – laughing into the fate of the storm.
She rolled her eyes once more at his tease; didn’t want her there either, not offended by the notions. The girl had no reference towards whatever this game might’ve looked like or entailed, and curiosity could’ve inspired her to wander into its midst, but she’d save the inquiry and inquisition for another day. There were too many other distractions and deterrents. Was there even a way to win? Or were they simply collecting kisses from strangers? From those they knew but hadn’t bothered trying to inveigle, entice, yet? She didn’t voice any of these thoughts, falling silent in those gestures, but loud in others, continuing the ring of chuckles as she rampaged along.
she told me she was hollow, that's far from what i see
she's more than just the daughter of a broken man to me
There’s no more words to be said, just the moment of enjoying each other’s company as they spin and move along the dance floor. And it’s lovely, really, a calm in the storm of what would become; after games and chaste kisses, of rivalries and power, and Sunjata almost wishes he had known to savor these small moments before they’re gone, the way the light glints off her hair in that coppery sheen, the smile and giggles, snickers of laughter that leave her as they spin and twirl and move.
He doesn’t now, but he will. And all he can do for now is give into her whims, her schemes, nearly running into another couple on the edges of the floor, though he doesn’t mind. He’s content this way, for now. Content to continue for however long it takes before the world shifts to hell once more and he finds himself lost in the belly of the beast.
— FIN
she told me she was shallow. her rivers run so deep
if i could only be the boat that leads her to the sea
SuNJATA
No permission needed for power play!
Feel free to use magic/force on Sunjata, without killing him <3
Sunjata speaks with an Australian accent and has a passive magic that makes him produce a subtle scent that matches exactly to whatever those around him most desire him to smell like.
